Air pushing upcanyon ruffles the bright leaves of dainty poison oak twining up tree trunks as you exit the green tunnel of foliage that is Hwy 36 onto a dubious spur promising to take you to Kneeland. Suddenly, you’re in a movie-set clearing flooded by evening sunlight. You stop the car to get out and […]
News (NCJ)
Posted inLife + Outdoors
My first time
Anticipating my first summer in Arcata is like waiting for the lottery lady to pick the winning numbers. In this case, I’m hoping to win more than a few warm, sunny days and some social gatherings that include people other than my husband and me. I’ve heard mixed reviews on Arcata summers — enough bad […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Big Church
On Sundays you’re lucky to find a spot to park at the confluence of Rohnerville Road and Highway 36. Dozens of cars line the edges of highway and road, and a hundred or so more cram into the big dirt parking lot of the white, old-fashioned church on the southwest corner of the intersection. Which […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Cheap and green?
In more than two dozen California communities, city and county governments are seeking to take control of their local electricity systems under a new state public power law. Could it happen here? This weekend, Paul Fenn, the chief architect of the new public power strategy, will share his vision at a conference and open meeting. […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Grocers and lifestyles
H umboldt County is a “natural” sort of place. And we’re not just talking forests, rivers, seashores and mountains — when it comes to food, we’re ahead of the curve on the suddenly hip natural trend. We have fruit and vegetable farmers who have been completely organic for decades, dairies and cattle ranchers producing grass-fed […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Press of ages
When Chad Helmonds entered Humboldt State University five years ago, he weighed 315 pounds — a football player, 6’2”, a big guy by any standard. He had lifted weights in high school as a part of his football training, so he took some notice of the weightlifting records on the wall the first time he […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
The man from Alabama
How Tyrone Kelley’s roots influence his forest management Photos by Heidi Walters Laramie, Wyo., summer 1985. The bus shuddered along at a crawl and then stopped, brakes exhaling sharply — whshhhh . The driver pulled a lever, folding the door in with a thud, and stumped down the steps to the ground. A passenger, a […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Trees and flowers
Like most junior high and high school students in Humboldt County, the teenagers I work with as a tutor are scrambling to finish their homework during this, their final week of school — there are essays on American authors due, presentations about U.S. History to be made, tests to be taken. Unlike most junior high […]
